HELP! (with pics)

Hey guys, I bought all I needed for my install and wanted to solder the power switch to the modem so its ready for tomorrow but I did something wrong!!

I soldered 2 wires to the correct pins on the button, tested with multimeter and it was fine, then i soldered to the modem and closed everything up.

I put in a phone cable and cut the ends but when I test with the multimeter, its always beeping, instead of only when I push the button.

Since there is no real step by step guide for us soldering newbies, I just winged it.

Keep in mind nothing is really insulated because I didn't think about it until after I closed everything up. The positive wire by the modem is touching some metal on my laptop, is that why this is happening?

It was my first time soldering anything important so be easy. here are some pics...

You are lucky you have such big contact areas there. But yes that stray wire is making contact and essentially shorting out your power button. So the laptops power button is essentially now always pushed down.

If you have not done so already, take your battery out and make sure the laptop is not plugged in. Just in case there is a trickle of power that shouldnt be, and it should never be live when doing anything inside or a stray wire will be the least of your problems.

Get some desoldering braid put it ontop of the joint you made, and put the iron ontop. It will wick up the solder and desolder the joint.

Then try again. Dont leave the soldering iron there for too long because you will heat everything up, and these parts arent meant for that sort of heat for long periods. They are soldered by machines that heat them for a second and done. Not 5 minutes with a big blunt tip.

Also that wire is way too large. Trim it down or something. And get some insulation for it. Even if it did work after this run, it wouldnt have later because not all your strands are on the solder area, and are loose.

Good first try, but you should really practice on something less expensive. You can and will destroy your laptop if you are not careful.

I wouldnt recommend anything larger than 22 gauge wiring for purposes of soldering directly onto a printed circuit board. I highly recommend that you have soldering iron with a sharp tip.
I would only strip at most 1/8" of the insulation off of the ends of the wire. Twist the ends of the wire and tin some solder on the tips of the exposed wire you are intending to solder on the board, not too much that it causes it to bleed when the hot iron is on it, but dont burn it because it will make the solder useless at that level. Then place the tinned wire on the board where you intend to solder, it will only need a few seconds. Hold the wire in place at least 2x as long as you had the iron on to wait for it to cool before it sets in place. It doesnt need to be on there well enough that you can pull on it with moderate force so long as it is on there. Lastly, you should use some insulating tape that you can secure the wires onto the board. I personally used sillicone to keep it in place, but I used it lightly in stratigic areas. Repeat with 2nd wire.

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts mind there are few."- Shunryu Suzuki
"Do it right or don't do it at all"

Good first try, but you should really practice on something less expensive. You can and will destroy your laptop if you are not careful.

Yikes. Looks to me like you need a better soldering iron, too. If you're using a run-of-the-mill plug-in-and-heat-up iron from radioshack, chances are it's:

1) got a cumbersome tip
2) has only one heat setting, which may be too hot for delicate PCB work
3) ...leaves you with no place to safely prop the iron, so you're tempted to rush it so you don't burn yourself.

I used one of those babies for a while until I got a soldering station. Mine's from a company that sells "knockoffs", but just because they're an unheard-of-brand, don't think they're not pro level: Circuit Specialists

They start at $39.95, and though that's more than the $9.99 model at the 'Shack, these are simply the proper tools for the job if you're even thinking of doing more delicate work.

If you make a habit of soldering to expensive parts (like I do, ) I would STRONGLY reccomend something like that.

Yikes. Looks to me like if
you're even thinking of doing more delicate work.

If you make a habit of soldering to expensive parts (like I do, ) I would STRONGLY reccomend something like that.

As for 3, it comes with a stand. I actually have one that I use a lot for TTL chip soldering. For $7.99 you cant beat it for DIP connections to 1 penny IC's. And it comes with solder (crappy but it works) and some other stuff that is useless.

But look at the glory of that stand:

What sucks is once you put the iron on it, it either collapses and the iron rolls out onto the table/floor/you or the big nonbendy power cord will twist and it will flip around and out!